


Falling in Love with You

by romanee



Series: Heart Exchange [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Heart Exchange Au, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mild Gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 07:50:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17783459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romanee/pseuds/romanee
Summary: Everything that should've been wasn’t, yet Gavin felt incredibly full. A fullness he knew he could never explain to anyone else besides the select few, but of what he could say was happiness. Immense happiness like nothing he’d ever experienced in all his years of living and loving. Gavin both loved and loathed it; the emptiness in his chest ached in ways that were part frustrating and oh so amazing.





	Falling in Love with You

**Author's Note:**

> To start off, 1) it's been a hot minute! happy to be back w this series~  
> 2) this is probably the most domestic feel good type thing I've ever written. I was a bit out of my depth, and this is  
> only the 2nd time I've written these two, but the end result I'm happy with! ;;v;;  
> Today it'll be a year since I first started this au, and around the same time I decided to write a whole little series based around it. I've wanted to have this particular story finished since Feb. last year, but was struggling to really get into it. Instead, I worked on other things, ideas for the other stories for the series, and figured out how I wanted the world to work in regards to the exchange. I'm so incredibly happy to finally have this done <3
> 
> Title from lyrics from: Waterval by Hush  
> Happy Valentines Day! <3 <3 <3

Still. Hollow. Dead.  

For six months that’s how Gavin felt waking up every morning.   

The first time being the absolute worst. It had terrified the ever-living hell out of him, but with Michael’s weight, and breath warm against his neck, Gavin’s panic subsided for the moment. The following aches and pains that woke with him were like nothing he’d ever felt; it spread all throughout his torso screaming something was missing, and he  _hurt._

The sudden shock of it all hitting him at once almost had him clawing his bandages off, something primal in him demanding he needed to reopen his chest cavity, to scratch scabs snagging on said bandages off so some sort of relief would wash over him. Instead, his hand not already on Michael clung to Michael like a lifeline. His twitching fingers trailed over Michael’s own bandaged chest before finding one of his hands, interlacing their fingers together. 

A month later when he built the courage to tell Michael, Michael confessed to having nightmares about Gavin bleeding out, his heart thumping to a slow stop in his hands, leaving Michael. 

_“Most the time you’re already awake, so the only thing reassuring me it was a nightmare is seeing your heart on my nightstand.”_

_“Oh, Michael... is that why I find you clinging to it every other morning?”_

_“Mhm.”_

It took some work, but after promising to tell each other about anything else they felt or went through in their healing process, the burning panic induced pain Gavin struggled with eased to light aches while Michael’s nightmares faded. A year later, rather than feeling emptiness, Gavin’s mornings were back to being peaceful or as peaceful as they could be when his wandering hands woke Michael, and it was too early. 

Even though the love of his life– _yeah, love of his life, who'da thought_ –liked to act like he was committing a crime for waking him up, he flourished under Gavin’s attention and made sure to return it tenfold.

They were touchy before, but now, both of them spent an ungodly amount of time tracing, kissing,  _worshiping_ their matching jagged scars.

“Gavin, I swear to God.” 

Humming, Gavin squeezed his boy’s sides as he smothered his chuckling into Michael’s stomach, continuing with pressing feather like kisses across every inch of Michael he could reach without moving from his spot. Despite Michael’s sleepy disgruntlement, his fingers threaded through Gavin’s hair, his nails scratching his scalp every now and again when Gavin switched to open mouth kisses. 

When he stopped Michael tugged on his hair, grumbling nonsense that made Gavin snort. 

“What do you want, my lovely little Michael?” Gavin cooed, resting his hands over Michael’s stomach followed by his chin on top of them. 

The hand in his hair tugged harder, but Gavin refused to move, waiting on Michael to either look at him or voice his wants. And for ten minutes they sat in silence, Gavin smiling as he rubbed small circles into Michael’s skin with his thumbs while Michael kept one arm firmly thrown over his eyes, his other hand continuing to tug on Gavin’s hair seemingly every minute.

They were at a stalemate, and even though Gavin wanted to kiss up Michael’s body, he was happy to stay nestled half on top of him instead. 

“Boy. ~” 

Michael made a half growl half whine sound before lifting his right leg, bringing his heel down on the back of Gavin’s leg. “You fuck, get up here and kiss me already. Jesus- _fucking_ -Christ!” This time when he yanked on Gavin’s hair, it stung and sent a light spark down Gavin’s spine, making him shiver. 

Grunting, Gavin decided to keep his snarky comment to himself as he pressed soft kisses just under Michael’s belly button, above it then started moving toward Michael’s chest. The heel previously digging into his thigh slid down to the back of his knee while the hand in his hair dropped to hang around the back of his neck. Michael hummed in contentment the higher Gavin moved up, and right before Gavin reached the bottom of Michael’s scar, he opened his mouth, leaving an array of bite marks along Michael’s ribs. 

Sure, nothing anyone told him a year ago had actually prepared him for the haunting pain and feelings he and Michael went through as they learned to function without their hearts inside of them, but the payout was better than how people described. 

Once on Michael’s scar, Gavin pressed harsher kisses on the raised skin causing Michael's light hums to turn to startled gasps which melted into soft, breathy laughs as his arms tightened around his neck. Where he would’ve felt Michael’s heart beating, Gavin rubbed his nose against the spot, kissed it, then finally kissed his boy breathless. When Michael switched to his neck, Gavin let out his own shaky breath, his gaze drifting toward the nightstand beside them when a soft thumping met his ears.

Any other time Gavin would find himself transfixed in watching his heart working separately from his body, but now? A prideful sort of embarrassment washed over him. Seeing his heart contracting and relaxing in time with feeling the actual effects of his blood rushing through his body as Michael’s bits got rougher, set a fire off in him.

A deeper bite startled him back to the here and now. Looking down, Gavin cupped Michael’s cheeks, his smile countering Michael’s pouting frown. Squishing Michael’s cheeks together, Gavin planted little kisses all over his face while Michael growled. 

“Love you, boy. Love you so much!” 

Michael’s hands slapped on either side of his face, returning the favor, and smashed their lips together; Gavin laughing into it as Michael groaned something that sounded like  _get on with it boy! I love you too, but please!_

Shimming his way back under the sheets, Gavin gave a quick glance toward his nightstand to see Michael’s heart beating away just like his.  

_Mine._

-

Gavin's heart belonged to Michael, and Michael’s belonged to him.

The thought alone made Gavin want to cry because, in actuality, it wasn’t just his heart, but his life. His entire life belonged to Michael now. In Gavin's eyes, it had always been his, but more so now than ever. As a kid, it had been a scary thought, his existence one day ending up literally in someone else's hands, but Michael wasn’t just anyone. Michael’s his boy, and there’s no one on earth who Gavin would rather give his life to. 

-

Fiddling with his camera case, Gavin squirmed in his seat; for as excited as he was to see Meg and Lindsay again, he couldn’t shake his sudden bout of nerves. The last time he met up with Meg, they made plans for this very shoot; they had lunch, and after hashing out all the details Meg ended up going on a rambled rant about how excited she was about her upcoming shoots across Europe. Her one dilemma being Lindsay wouldn’t be able to come with her. Lindsay had her own work responsibilities she had to take care of, but it'd be the longest amount of time they’d be away from one another. 

_“I mean, it’s not like we haven’t spent time away from one another, but since moving in together...” she trailed off, biting her lip while she played with her fork, “I haven’t been gone for_ this _long before. I’m not worried about either of us, oh, I don’t know, falling out of love or something. I just.”_

_“Don’t want her to feel lonely?”_

_Meg hummed, rolling the fork between her fingers now. “I guess. I don’t really know how to explain it. She’ll have the cats and,” she sighed, dropping the fork, holding her head in her hands, “maybe I’m being selfish since I won’t have anything with me except for my phone to contact her with.”_

_Gavin nudged her foot with his until she looked at him._

_“It’s not selfish, Turney, you’ll be homesick, and that’s normal. Besides, I’m sure Linds has already asked you to take pictures of all the cats you see so you can send them to her!”_

_Seeing his friend smother a laugh into her arm, Gavin patted himself on the back. He hated when either she or Lindsay was upset over things neither of them had control over. The last thing he wanted them to do was to hold each other back from things they loved and supported one another on._

_“That she has, Gav, that she has.”_

_As their lunch went on, and Meg changed the subject to how he and Michael were healing up, an idea hit Gavin, and he grabbed Meg’s arm while they walked to her car._

_“Meg! Oh, Turney, I know what you can do!”_

_“Yeah, what’s that?”_

_He waited till she looked at him, her eyes filled with mirth at his excitement._

_“Y’know how you’ve told me you’ve wanted to bring up the exchange? Well, bring it up! Obviously not for before you leave, it’d be horrid for you two to be apart while trying to heal, the last thing you’d want to do is pose for photos,_ but! _If she wants to do it as much as I know she does” he held his hand up, “ah, none of that. You’ve convinced yourself she’d say no; she won’t! Anyway, bring it up, talk about it, and maybe plan something for when you get back. Have something to look forward to besides being back together!”_

_“Gav... I don’t know,” she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, “don’t you think it’s too soon?”_

_“Nonsense. If you guys feel ready, then it’s your choice, not anyone else's. And don’t worry about the whole, doing it yourselves or seeing a doctor thing. Michael and I would be more than happy to explain everything, and if you go with a doctor, Michael has a friend, Jeremy, who can talk to you guys!” He reached out and squeezed her shoulder._

_“If not us, then your friend Alfredo too, you said he and his boyfriend did their exchange themselves right?”_

_“Mhm.”_

_He smiled. “At the end of the day, it’s up to you and Linds. You’ve got plenty of people you can turn to for advice.”_

Forcing his hands off the case, Gavin crossed his arms, glancing at Michael from the corner of his eyes. "Boy, you don’t think I pressured her into doing the whole exchange thing soonish since she’s leaving, do you?” 

“Na.” Michael shrugged, leaning his elbow closest to the window on the little edge.

“‘Na’?! That's it??” Gavin groaned, sliding down as much as the seat belt would allow, mumbling, “Doesn’t make me feel any better, boy.” 

A sigh then fingers were pulling on his cheek, forcing a whine out him as he batted Michael’s hand away. 

“How long has Meg been coming to you about wanting to give Linds her heart?”

Gavin’s head rolled to the side, his forehead bumping the window. “She first started texting me about it a bit after I was able to work again.” 

“So, more than a few months. Lindsay’s been coming to me since their  _second_ anniversary, Gav, there’s nothing she wants more. Since she’s actually terrified of what Meg’ll say, says a lot. For as long as I’ve known her, Lindsay isn’t scared off by anything.”

“They’ve both worked themselves up for rejection... they don’t want to be part of the percent that doesn’t last.” 

Michael grunted, “No shit. No one does.”

Thumb rubbing over Michael’s hand, Gavin swung them between them while they stood in silence in the elevator. Other than his own silly worries, he was looking forward to the seeing and talking to girls; it’d been a long while since the four of them were able to be in the same room together to catch up. When the elevator came to a stop, dinging, Gavin gave Michael’s hand a light squeeze then hurried out before the doors could open all the way; calling out his and Michael's arrival. 

“You guys  _sure_ it's okay if I use them? Because I do have a replica’s, we can use those instead.”

Meg swayed side to side, playing with her fingers, voice lowering as he got closer with Michael’s heart. Despite how nervous she sounded, she never took her eyes off the jar, and Gavin could’ve sworn he’d seen an actual twinkle in her eyes. Offering her a smile, he caressed the jar, glance at it then back up at her.     

“We offered, Turney, it’s fine. I promise! We trust you guys.” He turned back to Michael, waiting for him to agree, and when he nodded, Meg let out a shaky breath.  

Without another word he held the jar out to her, nudging it further into her hands once she reached out. Coming up behind her, Lindsay hovered over her shoulder, her eyes wide as she placed her hand next to one of Meg’s. 

“Wow... it’s warmer than I thought.” She said, resting her cheek against Meg’s head. “Don’t know why I thought it’d be cold or something.” 

Walking up beside him, Michael held on tight to his jar, running his fingers along the glass. “Yeah, well, just don’t drop it, yeah?” He held out his jar for her to take, once it was in Lindsay’s hands, she held it close to her chest; giving them a million-watt smile. 

“Never!”  

He shared a look with Michael, but another look at Lindsay and she was holding the jar in her hands firmly, whispering with Meg while they walked over toward their set up. 

From there on, Gavin, with Michael and Lindsay’s help, got to work. The few hours seemed to stretch out longer than normal, but he didn’t mind. Watching the girls hold his and Michael's jars with the utmost care made him feel warm inside, not to mention the little looks he saw the two of them giving each other when the other wasn’t looking. It was like watching two crushes too embarrassed to ask each other out.

-

With everything said and done, the four of them went back to Lindsay and Meg’s place for a small lunch. The moment they were all settled on the couch or floor, the two girls bombarded them with questions; which, in and of itself wasn’t strange. What was strange, was it was all four of them. Not two and two, but together, and neither Meg or Lindsay shied around the topic of the exchange; asking anything and everything, and it took everything in Gavin to not shake Michael’s arms and screech _finally!!_

However, now their questions ranged from things they’ve looked up themselves and asking of their experiences while others got progressively more personal. When they started asking about how things happened in the moment for them, Gavin didn’t mind, but it was embarrassing admitting to certain things out loud, like being more than a little okay with pain. Before he could admit to enjoying handling a knife more than he should’ve, Michael had pinched his arm. Giving him a look to which Lindsay snickered at them.  

“I think I have a high pain tolerance myself, but I’ll be honest...” she glanced at Meg, playing with her hair, “I don’t think I could do that y’know?” She gave a half shrug. “Couldn’t cut Meg open, and do all that stuff alone. When I was younger, I was all about it; now though? Too worried I hurt her or mess something up.” 

Meg nodded, interlacing her fingers with Lindsay. “I’ve heard, read about too many horror stories, but... I don’t have anyone that comes to mind who has seen a specialist. Everyone's done it themselves, and by everyone, I mean you guys, and Fredo and Trev. I don’t like prying in other people's lives unless I know they’re okay with talking about it.”

Gavin cleared his throat, refusing to look at Michael, knowing his boy’s cheeks were as warm as his if him ducking his head said anything. 

“I mean, it’s scary at the start, but, well. Everyone has their own little things they do to help stay focused or keep one another distracted.” Near the end, Gavin’s voice went up a pitch, and he faked a cough. “Anyway! You don’t  _have_ to do it yourselves, fuck whatever anyone tries to tell you. It is stressful if you’re not prepared. Reading up on the  _right_ stuff helps some.”

Michael made a noise of agreement. “Yeah, besides, I know Jeremy and his boyfriend wouldn’t mind talking to guys. Also, pretty sure they still talk to their doctor, two birds one stone if they can help get you in contact.”

“That’s sweet of you, Michael. Thank you.” Meg leaned forward to take his hand, squeezing it while Lindsay beamed at them.

-

Upon getting home, Gavin pressed a kiss to Michael’s cheek then ran off toward their room where he placed his jaw on the bed and threw his day clothes off. Comfy in his pajamas, he tucked into bed with his jar against his chest. 

“Really? It’s not even eight.” 

“Mm, tired, been a busy today! Oh, did you call Jeremy?” Turning to face Michael, he tugged on the bottom of Michael’s shirt. “Lay with me in a bit?”

Michael snorted as he stepped out of Gavin’s reach, talking over his loud whining, leaning against the door frame when he reached it. “Gonna call him while I get stuff ready for dinner, have fun taking a nap!” With that, he closed the door some. 

Gavin stayed laid out on his back, staring at the door while he listened to Michael move around the kitchen for a while longer as pans clanged against the stove. Before he knew it, his eyes started to feel heavy. Settling back on his side, he pulled his jar, Michael’s heart, closer to himself and cuddled it. 

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like there's a few more things I could've done with them, but honestly their story is more of the, the best case scenario from the series. They're what people want w out really realizing it. They don't notice how people look at them, thinking they have it all cuz while the good has been good, they've had their ups and downs that've made them stronger and they're constantly growing.  
> Anyway! I still hope this was enjoyable :')  
> Lindsay/Meg story up next!
> 
> ♡Comments are appreciated!♡


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